Iran wants fuel swap on own soil

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says Tehran wants a nuclear fuel swap in Iranian territory, citing guarantee concerns.

Speaking at his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Mehmanparast said that there were three issues with regard to the swap, namely the quantity of the 20-percent enriched uranium required by Tehran’s research reactor, the delivery timing and the location of the swap.

Regarding the latter factor, Mehmanparast reiterated that Iran preferred the swap to take place inside its territory.

“The location must be inside Iran so that we could have concrete guarantees.”

Under a UN-brokered deal, Iran would send most of its low-enriched uranium abroad for further processing and eventual conversion into fuel rods for the Tehran research reactor, which produces radio medicine essential for cancer patients.

Iran has demanded guarantees that would require the supplier of the enriched fuel to deliver it in a timely manner. The swap deal remains at a deadlock as the West continues to ignore Tehran’s stipulations.

On new proposals offered by Brazil and Turkey, Mehmanparast said that Iran was studying the proposals and believed that they are potentially viable and could easily be implemented.

He added that through discussions, Iran also came up with a new formula that could be used to reach a final agreement on the issue.

According to Mehmanparast, if the three suppliers, the US, France and Russia establish their sincerity in conducting the swap, the formula can prove effective.

He said that details of the new formula are still under discussion. Mehmanparast further announced that Iran has not received any proposals suggesting an alternative location for the swap.